Workshop Recap: so much to shoot in Toronto!

Believe or not, I finally got to edit all the images from our Toronto workshop (led with Angie McMonigal back in May). We spent two and a half day photographing architecture and cityscapes around Toronto with a small group of attendees. Despite a bad forecast, we ended up having good weather most of the weekend!

After an introduction dinner, we started with a sunset/dusk shoot on Friday to shoot cityscapes from Bathurst Bridge. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of cityscapes from this workshop because I ended up lending my tripod most of the time. 🙂

The next morning, we started off at the Allen Lamber Galleria, designed by Santiago Calatrava. Interestingly, I focused all my attention to the fountain and didn’t shoot the actual galleria!

Enter The Den

Push Through

You can see a reflection of the intricate ceiling of the galleria in this next shot:

Second Meanings

We then moved on the other buildings in the Financial District. I loved the reflection in the windows of Royal Bank Plaza (WZMH Architects).

The Void In Between

The Toronto-Dominion Centre is definitely a landmark in Toronto, with 6 buildings designed by Mies van der Rohe.

Dominated

Wedged

As it was Doors Open Toronto, we managed to get inside Commerce Court North (York and Sawyer), which has an amazing ceiling.

A World Of Octagons

Commerce – Industry – Integrity – Prudence

Our next stop was the iconic City Hall (Viljo Revell). Having shot there many times before, I focused on unusual details, like glass and steel.

All The Way To The Top

After a quick stop for lunch, we headed to the Ryerson Student Learning Centre (Snøhetta and Zeidler Partnership). I was rather inspired by the interiors, that I had never shot before.

X Marks The Spot

A Window To Many Worlds

Triangulated

We made a quick stop at the Art Gallery of Ontario, renovated by Frank Gehry. As you can see, it was rather cloudy, so I got some close-up shots.

Backside

Theatre Park (architectsAlliance) has some interesting glass that provides a lot of reflections:

Windows

Our last stop before dinner was the Roy Thomson Hall (Arthur Erickson). The glass structure has some really interesting reflections as well.

Distorted

When we got to dinner, the sky wasn’t looking too good, but it cleared while we ate and we were greeted by a beautiful sunset at Polson Pier!

Until Tomorrow

The next day we started with a sunrise photoshoot at Riverdale Park. We then moved on to Bridgepoint Hospital (Diamond Schmitt Architects, HDR Architects, KPMB Architects, Stantec), where I shot that little series:

Gears #3

Gears #2

Gears #1

After breakfast, we went through the Canary District and the Distillery District. The Gooderham Condos (architectsAlliance) has some cool balconies.

Glass Ripples

Our next stop was the Parliament Data Centre, designed by WZMH Architects. I love the colorful cladding, that was designed to compensate for the lack of windows.

Stacking Up

Shard (BW)

We got gorgeous clouds when we got to the new Globe & Mail Centre (Diamond Schmitt Architects).

Walk To The Clouds

Into The Haze

After a short streetcar/subway ride, we got to one of the highlights of the workshop: the Royal Ontario Museum (by Daniel Libeskind) and the Exhibit Residences, the stacked building across the street (Rosario Varacalli). I loved playing with the two buildings and how they intersect.

Stacked

Staggered

The ROM has many reflections and I had a lot of fun with them 🙂

Inverted

Remember Where You’re Coming From

Peaking Through (BW)

At this point, a nice halo had formed around the sun.

Aureola

On our way to the next stop, I spotted some nice shadows on the Jackman Law Building (Hariri Pontarini Architects).

Hard Teeth

The Robarts Library (Mathers & Haldenby Architects) is another landmark in Toronto. The brutalist building is not easy to shoot!

Fighting The Dark Side

One of our last stops was the Helix of Life sculpture. It provided the perfect setup to play with the halo and starbursts!

Torch

Harvesting The Power Of The Sun

It was a great workshop and, as you can see, we photographed quite a lot! If you’re interested, take a look at my Workshops page to see upcoming workshops.

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I am a commercial architecture photographer living in Toronto. When I am not photographing commercial interiors and exteriors for my clients, I like to travel the world to photograph fine art cityscapes and architecture.